#le crew

[miloscat]

[Review] Butterflies: Episode 1-3 (PC)

They understand the concept of love.

After Bomb Rush Cyberfunk wowed me, I wanted to take a second look at this even more indie project memorialising Jet Set Radio. I've played Episode 1 (and some pre-release demos) before but since then, French lead dev Le Capitaine and their Le Crew have finalised Episodes 2 and 3, and published them to Steam as a bundle. Supposedly it's still to be continued but for now the team is hard at work on an F-Zero homage. Hopefully they come back and keep expanding this because what's there so far is really good!

Rather than using JSRF as a jumping off point for gameplay, Butterflies seems to prefer refining what the original JSR was doing. This means a more realistic sense of inertia, and managing the momentum of your crew of inline-skating delinquents. The dash button is there to pick up speed on the ground and grinding rails is not effortless. It's clearly set on improving the clunky play control of the Dreamcast game though, and the result is fast, technical, and satisfying... when you've put some time into mastering it.

To get you there is a low-pressure kind of game design with a set of missions that populate the large levels. You can roam around, tackling them and finding tag spots as you please without a timer ticking down, which on its own is a big step up from JSR for me. These tasks are usually races that pass through checkpoints or specific line runs that require keeping a combo going—some in Episode 1 are particularly strict—while Episode 3 adds in extra graffiti challenges. Going through the checklist is a nice way of showing off these urban sandbox levels as you hunt for write spots or (as of Episode 2 onwards) collectible music tracks.

Each episode has one map to itself while advancing the overall story. The first two are hilly suburban areas, with a bit of industrial in E1, and E3 features a sprawling inner-city area connected by train tracks. Powerlines to grind on and the ability to wallgrind on almost any wall if you have enough speed help you traverse the high degree of verticality built into these zones. The first two episodes have an interesting grungy, sketchy look while the third revamps things with more colour and shiny detail. Populating the maps are your typical low-poly NPCs (I spotted some modelled on Lammy and Parappa!) as well as bear-hugging cops, flying police drones, and zap-projectile-slinging cameras: as of E3, these can all be dealt with by a quick application of spray paint (which by the way is unlimited).

The story is handled a bit more seriously than in some other street punk simulators. In this near-future world, a Japanese city has seceded and is now run as an independent autocracy by one General Sakamoto, and by the end of E3 the rebellious Nat and her growing Butterflies crew are gearing up to rise above petty rudie squabbles and vandalism to really fight back against the fascism. The inclusion of real-world cultures and concerns keeps the tone grounded, like when one of your teammates Jae (who tags in Hangeul) comments on the treatment of Korean immigrants; another, Zinnie, wears a hijab and interjects in Arabic, while Rin is a trans girl and you follow her journey of self-discovery in dialogue which I thought was handled pretty well.

On top of their characterisation in cutscene dialogue, these touchstones make the characters deeper and more relatable, more than just a cool cel-shaded character design. They also for the most part have clear strengths in their stat distributions; I favoured speed specialist Zinnie for getting around. Each one has distinct graffiti designs (they all get a refresh in E3 as well) that, while simple, usually include their name (in katakana) and tell you something about their personality. Writing involves a three-stage timing-based minigame so everyone has three unique designs, although you might find you end up with the simplest "bare minimum" one all over just to save time with the ~200 spots per map.

Since Butterflies has been released episodically over five years, it's interesting to watch as the new instalments make changes and become more polished. It's still rough around the edges even as of E3 but solid enough, and this release structure gives me hope that even more refinements will be implemented going forward (a better in-game map would be nice!). Either way, I've enjoyed what's there so far, and it's refreshing that multiple projects have been springing up in this vein while having their own character: in this case a little bit subdued, down to earth, but it's got heart.

[sibmakesart]

shanks has a Tabac in Croix-Rousse (get it ? Shanks le Roux. à croix rousse. get it.)

il fait un prix a sanji sur ses cigarettes apres quil apprends quil est devenu pote avec luffy

[cringefail-clown]

ive decided to polish out the coffeshop college au from this post so heres the lineup of the crew from Colors and Mayhem: Cafe and Pub lmfao

so in this au hal's a biomedical engineering major in the area of neural engineering, working part time in a cafe&pub combo owned by callie and cal - fraternal twins who cannot stand each other but made a co-owned business bc theyd not survive on their own in this economy (they couldnt agree if they wanted a calm little coffee spot for studying and meeting friends (callies idea) or an older university partygoers hot spot (cal) so they combined the two into the unhinged mess that it is)

besides hal, theres: equius, engineering student who breaks shit all the time but theyre understaffed as it is so no one fired him yet; damara, a psychology major with the goal of becoming sexologist and gamzee. nobody knows what gamzees doing here

basically its pure chaos all the time

[lilacs-stars]

wait okay I haven't seen anyone talk about this yet (and I'm really sorry if this has been brought up before, to my knowledge it hasn't, but obviously I haven't seen every single post ever), during "perfect revenge" when they first go into the dead fish layer thing whatever, and around the time where uliana says "find that perfect, perfect revenge"

HADES LITERALLY GRABS ONTO MORGIE'S SHOULDERS AND DOES A LIL JUMP?? AND HE'S SMILING AND HE SEEMS SO HAPPY HE JUST DOES A JUMP LIKE

it's soo cute 😭 honestly in my opinion it feels super out of character for him, idk why it was even included but like maybe it shows a part of hades that's super bubbly, which he tries to mask with his apathetic, uninterested demeanor?

but the way he jumped on morgie's shoulders in particular, makes me wonder more about their dynamic? like is it because morgie's so bubbly that hades is like that around him too? and the way that morgie was quick to agree to hades's "yeah let's burn her to a crisp" makes me wish we got to see more of them. like imagine hades always acting so tough and unconcerned around maleficent, but finally letting loose and being super excited and happy when he hangs out with morgie.

anyways just a thought, I figured it would be nice to point it out and see what you guys think about it. that's all for now! :))

(also now I can't get the idea out of my head where hades is being all chill to maleficent like "yo imma go hang out with morgie" and she's like "okay whatever" and then cut to hades hanging out with morgie where they're both squealing and jumping up and down like a pair of teenage girls while one of them spills the tea 😭 I'm sorry I can't this is too funny 💀 I actually need a fic about this like this is some top-notch villain behavior fr)

[lesansnom]

Marco le p(h)énix >:)

Le poti bonhomme

[adventure-time-news]

Trung Le Nguyen's rough pitch for their variant cover of Adventure Time (2025) #1. The layout is based on The Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power, a famous fresco in Rome.

[leopardom]

what’s going on in my head when i go to bed every night:

[pensat-i-fet]

[asparklethatisblue]

Just keep the morning a bay a little longer.

@swanfloatieknight wrote this lovely Fitzier fic “Sîne Klâwen” based on middle high german poetry conventions, of having a watchman warn two lovers that dawn has come ☺️

[bettertoadthandead]

Low poly pigeons 🕊

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

[ljaylmaoo]

I didn’t realize I actually had a physical (and extremely visible) reaction whenever I’m watching descendants ror and the VKs (specifically hook) comes on the screen 😭😭

My mom came into my room to ask for something (I still don’t know what for tbh) when life is sweeter was on and she asked why I was blushing and smiling sm which confused me bc i didn't think it was visible and she turned to the tv and saw hook and just went “oh”

(It was this part specifically that she saw)

[ivorydragoness44]

dtror!Hades x Reader: Fountain

Word Count: 1,221 Warnings/Notes: The Reader and other characters get surrounded by dancing students, the Reader becoming overwhelmed at the situation, the Reader falling into the fountain (unharmed), Hades setting the courtyard on fire, and characters concerned for the Reader’s well-being.

Summary: Leaving class with Morgie and Hades, the Reader and their friends encounter a musical predicament as students accidentally block their way and cause an incident that Hades does not take lightly. A/N: This is more of a Hades and Morgie x Reader, while also being a Uliana’s crew x Reader at the last half. It got out of hand for initially being a Hades x Reader haha.

  Slinging your bag over your shoulder, you yawned.   “Class wasn’t that bad,” Hades said, walking over to your table.   As the rest of the students left the classroom, you three remained. The third being Morgie. The son of Morgana le Fay slid over beside Hades.   “Yeah,” he agreed with his friend. “We learned more in today’s class than in all of last week’s!”   “It’s not that,” you shrugged, “I guess I’m just feeling… off today.”   “Oh.” They nodded slowly in understanding.   “Come on.” You gave a small smile before turning to head out the door.

  The sea of hormones had ebbed, and the three of you were to walk without a single student in your way. Not that either of you were in a rush. The next class would not begin for another few minutes. There was always plenty of time to reset and socialize between classes. Maybe not enough time for some, but things consuming more time would just have to wait until later.

  As the three of you made your way over to one of the courtyards, you quickly found where a good portion of the student body had congregated.   “This is the second time today,” you observed as rhythmical lyrics continued in the area.   “And we haven’t even had lunch yet,” Morgie agreed. Swaying his head from side to side, he grabbed his friend’s attention.   “Are you going to join?” Hades asked with raised brows.   A brief moment of thought and Morgie stilled. “No,” he said, looking to the blue haired boy. “I mean… it sounds great and all, but I have no idea who they’re singing about. And besides… they’ve already started singing. I don’t just want to jump in.”   Hades smiled, humored. “That hasn’t stopped you before.”   “You can be very determined,” you added, patting Morgie’s shoulder.   “Yeah.”

  While your conversation sided the song performing in front of you, you three failed to notice one thing in particular. A group of singing students danced dangerously close to where you were standing.   “Uh…maybe we should”—   “Move?” Hades finished your suggestion.   “Yep.”

  With a single hand, you ushered Morgie forward. He slithered around toward the door across the stone walkway. But as your hopes for an easy retreat came to their height, it crashed down.   The dancing within the space changed tempo. To avoid a collision with two students, you side stepped and twirled out of their path, your hand slipping away from the silky texture of Morgie’s shirt in the process.   A small gasp left your lips as you leant back, narrowly avoiding an extended arm as the students continued a spritely routine. They moved forward, and you moved back. It was an unsavory dance, dodging physically artistic motions as they seemed to unconsciously target you.

  Continuing to back away, your head was nearly whipping back and forth in an attempt to keep track of their motions. As you looked up, you caught Hades doing the same. At least the students appeared to miss him with each move.   The overwhelming nature of the situation pounded in your ears. But not more so in the next moment. Stepping quickly, a pressure pushed against the back of your leg. It did not move, however, in reflex your other leg did, trying to regain balance as your world tipped over and the strap to your bag slipped off of your arm to safety.   A sudden coolness enveloped you. You did not breathe. The water of the fountain was far deeper than anticipated at first glance. It muffled out the majority of the music beyond the surface. Though it was a lot calmer, you could not stay like that forever.

  Pushing yourself up, all that you could see behind the edge of the fountain was orange and red fire. Little wisps of it burning a bright white. The flames flared up from left to right. With a slosh of water, you sat up. You watched as students fled the courtyard with screams of panic. Their terrified expressions were sure to imprint in your mind for some time.   Soon, the fire encompassing the area cooled down and burnt itself out. Standing in the middle of it all was only one student: Hades. Even his most closest friends, Uliana’s crew, were no where to be seen. However, you had an inkling that they were staying at a safe but observant distance. Why would they miss such a spectacle of Hades’ fury?

  Hades’ flaming locks too cooled down, no longer holding a flame on his head. His shoulders sank down, the silver spikes on his jacket not threatening to create an additional piercing on his earlobes.   Taking a breath, Hades took one solid glance around. In the next breath, he strode over to the fountain. He propped one boot up on the edge for leverage and leaned down to offer a hand to you.   There was a pause as you stared at his hand. The collision of all that had happened coming to a sloping halt. Again, you looked up at his face after the shock of it all.   “Unless you want to stay in the water…”   His confused tone snapped you out of your daze. Blinking, you caught up with the present reality. With a wet grasp, you took ahold of his gloved hand. He yanked you up into a standing position and carefully step out of the fountain with godly ease.

  At the sound of your squishy wet boots, you looked down at the footwear. “Great,” you sighed, looking back up to Hades with the hopes of ignoring the feeling around your feet.   “Are you all right?” He asked, releasing his hold on your hand.   “Aside from the obvious? Yeah. Not fond of it… but yeah.”

  A multitude of approaching footsteps caught the attention of the pair of you.   “Hot stuff,” Uliana smiled approvingly at the surrounding courtyard as the group got closer.   “You even burnt that tree to a crisp!” Morgie bounced over to Hades’ side. “It’s still smoking!”   Hades’ brows raised and all eyes glanced at the aforementioned foliage.   Maleficent dragged her fingertips down Hades’ arm with a small smile. “Maybe I should redecorate it with thorns to match?”   Hades said nothing as he looked at her, but a smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

  As the attention on Hades swayed, the others looked to you.   Hook turned to you with an examining tilt of his head. “Sorry, love,” his upper lip curled, “but you look like you just swam around my ship.”   “Heh, I feel more like the dropped anchor,” you replied with a dry laugh, retrieving your dropped bag from the ground.   Hook’s brows furrowed in concern, his charm momentarily lost. “Are you hurt?”   “No,” you gave a small toothless grin to further reassure him. “Now, don’t go scheming a revenge plot while I go change.”   “And dry off,” he added with a flourishing gesture of his hook.   You frowned.   Uliana placed a gentle hand to your shoulder. “No promises on the no scheming though.”   “I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Academy’s most wicked.”   With a shared smile, laughter rang out from the group. There was no telling if or when they would conjure up a plan on your behalf. If they were to get revenge for you… it would have to be perfect.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to read more fanfiction from me, there's a pinned post on my blog linking to all of my writings.

[saints-who-never-existed]

Y'know, as much as I want to see multiple episodes-worth of everyday friendship things and Beach(y)-episode nonsense, I have to admit that my train of thought today was actually inspired more by the thought of The Lads (TM) clashing.

More specifically, it came from remembering this gem of a scene from that very earliest pilot script in which it's not Irving who reprimands Manson for his refusal to enter the hold but Dundy (who is also described in the script as "impatient and shrill")

Isn't that just so fascinating?! Le Vesconte actively displaying callousness and poor judgement right from the get-go? Gore even being a bit antagonistic in the way he belittles Dundy as he leaves? It's such a fascinating thing to me and it changes everything!

[mllenugget]

I have only one word and one word only : CRI CRI CRI CRI CRI CRI CRI CRI CRI

"I intended to skip Purgatory 2 to catch up faster on VODs since I was told they were unrelated lore-wise But my biggest mistake was to vibe check all the new players - I was not expecting to completely fall head over heels for Team Capybara, hot damn I love them all so much ????" - Me, February 2024

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I took @sunshinetomioka's werewolf Guill headcanon and ran with it btw, credit to it

[tinkerbitch69]

Kiden Nixon will continue to haunt Laura Kinney’s narrative and yet marvel will continue to insist Laura is straight!

Who, exactly, do they think they are fooling here?

[lesansnom]

Marco the FUCKING pénix